Damon Stoudamire hired as Georgia Tech’s head coach

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Tech moved quickly toput a new leader in charge of its struggling men’s basketballprogram, hiring longtime NBA guard Damon Stoudamire as the newYellow Jackets coach on Monday.

The 49-year-old Stoudamire comes to the Atlantic CoastConference school from the Boston Celtics, where he had been anassistant coach since 2021. The Celtics were in Atlanta this pastweekend to play the Hawks.

Stoudamire’s only previous head coaching experience was atPacific, where he compiled a 71-77 record over five seasons. He wasthe West Coast Conference coach of the year in 2020.

Georgia Tech didn’t take long to replace Josh Pastner, who wasfired on Friday after the Yellow Jackets capped a 15-18 season witha second-round loss to Pittsburgh in the ACC Tournament.

Stoudamire now heads a program that has made only one NCAATournament appearance in the last 13 years.

“Coach Stoudamire’s success and credibility as a player andcoach at both the collegiate and professional levels make him agreat fit to lead our program,” athletic director J Batt said in astatement. “He will serve as an outstanding mentor on and off thecourt and will attract talented student-athletes to the Flats.”

Stoudamire was a collegiate star at Arizona, helping lead theWildcats to the 1994 Final Four. He was selected No. 7 overall inthe 1995 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors and earned rookie of theyear honors.

He went on to average 13.4 points and 6.1 assists per game overa 13-year pro career that included stints with the Portland TrailBlazers (1998-05), Memphis Grizzlies (2005-08) and San AntonioSpurs (2008).

Stoudamire said he was “humbled and honored” to land a job withthe Yellow Jackets, who won the ACC title two years ago but havelargely been a non-factor on the national stage for more than adecade.

That’s a far cry from the powerhouse program that Bobby Creminsbuilt in the 1980s and ’90s, featuring stars such as Mark Price,Kenny Anderson, John Salley, Stephon Marbury and Dennis Scott.

The Yellow Jackets reached the Final Four for the first time in1990, and made it all the way to the national championship game in2004 under Cremins’ successor, Paul Hewitt.

“It is an incredible honor to be entrusted with leading such atradition-rich program,” Stoudamire said. “I am excited to get towork with the goal of consistently having our team compete at thechampionship level that we all know we can and should competeat.”

The Yellow Jackets managed only two winning seasons and one NCAATournament win over Hewitt’s final six seasons. After he was firedin 2011, Brian Gregory failed to make the NCAAs during a largelyforgettable five-year tenure that resulted in his dismissal.

Pastner left Memphis to take over the Yellow Jackets in 2016,bringing the reputation as a top-level recruiter. But Georgia Techwas barely noticed by the nation’s five-star prospects, and thelack of talent showed up in the record.

Other than that surprising run to the ACC Tournament title and aone-and-done appearance in the NCAAs in 2021, Pastner’s programshowed little signs of progress over his seven-year stint.

The Yellow Jackets plummeted to 12-20 last season, finishingnext-to-last in the ACC with a 5-15 mark. This season, they started1-12 in conference play — including a nine-game losing streak —before a late run left them with a 6-14 mark and 13th-placefinish.

Pastner finished with a record of 109-114 at Georgia Tech,including a 53-78 mark in the ACC.

The Yellow Jackets have fired their two most prominent coachesas well as its athletic director in the past six months. Footballcoach Geoff Collins and AD Todd Stansbury were dumped after adismal start on the gridiron last season.

Batt replaced Stansbury and presided over searches that led tointerim coach Brent Key remaining on as Collins’ full-timesuccessor and the hiring of Stoudamire.

Collins was owed a buyout of more than $11 million, whilePastner will get some $2.5 million over the final three years ofhis contract, putting an additional strain on an athleticdepartment that has struggled financially in recent years.

But Georgia Tech President Angel Cabrera expressed hope thatStoudamire can turn things around on the court.

“His impressive track record as a coach in college and the NBA,and his own experience as a student-athlete and professionalplayer, will be invaluable assets for the institute’s men’sbasketball program and our student-athletes,” Cabrera said.

In an interesting twist, Stoudamire was an assistant at Memphisfrom 2009-11 after Pastner took over as head coach for JohnCalipari, and returned to the Tigers for Pastner’s final season atthe school in 2015-16.

Stoudamire also has been an assistant with the NBA’s MemphisGrizzlies as well as a two-year stint at his alma mater.

In his only head coaching job, he took over at Pacific in 2016with the program coming off an 8-20 campaign. His best season was a23-10 mark in 2019-20, when the Tigers won a school-record 11 WCCgames and he was named conference coach of the year.

But he finished with a losing record overall and never guidedthe Tigers to a postseason berth.

Now, Stoudamire will get a chance to improve on his resume inthe ACC.